Description
- Beneficiary of a recent high-quality, nut-and-bolt restoration
- Absolutely magnificent presentation throughout
- A very special Ace with period competition history
- Mille Miglia Eligible, Mille Miglia entrant in the 2019 edition
- One of the best driving sports cars of the 50’s
- The 13th Ac Ace built
- One of 226 examples produced
- Accompanied by restoration documentation, correspondence and research, period photos and extensive invoices
- Elegant and sporty, with well-documented provenance and a no expense spared restoration
- According to us as well as many professional writers of articles the AC Ace is one of or probably the best driving sport scar of the 50’s
‘Of them all, the Ace was the truest sports car: it could be used for daily commuting or for high-speed long-distance touring, but it could also be driven to a race meeting, campaigned with distinction, and driven home again – even if that race was the Le Mans 24 Hours.’ – AC Heritage, Simon Taylor & Peter Burn.
AC (the factory was located in Thames Ditton, outside London in Surrey) surprised the motoring world in 1953 by announcing its new Ace sports car.
The chassis and coachwork were startlingly modern with styling and design by John Tojeiro, his inspiration, coming from the contemporary Ferrari Barchetta.
The Ace offered excellent performance and absolute superb handling.
According to us as well as many professional writers of articles the AC Ace is one of or probably the best driving sportscar of the 50’s.
These early Ace Roadsters are the initial and purest form of AC’s sports car.
An yes the AC was the car that would become the Shelby AC Cobra just a few years later.
The Ace enjoyed great success in production sports car racing, winning its class at the Le Mans 24-Hour Race in 1959 and finishing a magnificent 7th overall.
A total of 220 examples have been built with this specific AC engine. Later the car was also available with Bristol and Ford Zephyr engine.
ABOUT THIS SPECIFIC EXAMPLE
This delightful and rare Ac Ace is one of the very first examples built and delivered by AC. The car has an absolute amazing early race/ rally history which started immediately after delivery in December 1954.
The car was dispatched from the AC works factory in December 1954 to Swanstone Garage Ltd, Bournemouth, Uk.
The first recorded owner was RP Standbridge from Parkstone, Dorset.
Correspondence on the history file confirms that this specific example had an active racing history in Britain.
- 1955, Brunton Hillclimb April
- April 1955, Gosport Speed Trials Standing Start Quarter miles 2nd
- May 1955, West Hants & Dorset CC Autocross
- May 1955, Davidstow Circuit
- 1955 Silverstone
- 1955 Gosport
- July 1955, Silverstone Annual 6 hours relay
- 1955 Taunton Autocross
- 1955 Oulton Park Gold Cup
- October 1955, Tarrant Ruston Aerdrome
- June 1956, Eight Clubs Silverstone
- July 1956 Silverstone MCC races
The Ace later went (in July 1967) to a Mr. Simon Bathurst Brown from Camberly, Surrey.
The Ac was exported to Australia in October 1970 by the next owner, A Mr. Morgan from Adelaide, South Australia.
It is believed that the next owner became Mr. Richards from Melbourne and later Mr. Spender from Sydney before selling the AC to Mr. Victor Kay in April 1989 resident in Melbourne.
In 1990 the new owner, a Mr. Lance Dixon from Toorak carried out a mechanical restoration and fitted in the Ace a replacement supercharged Ac engine and other high performance modifications.
In March 2002 the AC was owned by a Mr. Terry Healy from Quunsland, the engine was overhauled.
In 2017 and 2018 the AC has been fully restored on a superb high level by a Dutch marque specialist. Without looking at the expenses this car was fully restored. Optically and technically only the best of the best was good enough.
We know all the companies who have worked on the car and we can only conclude that it will be very difficult to find a nicer and better example.
CONDITION EXTERIOR
The car has benefitted from a no-expense-spared, ground-up restoration.
We have seen this car at the body shop which is in our personal opinion one of the best in Holland. Not cheap but extremely good.
Restoration pictures of the car show an extremely thorough and impressive restoration of the body.
The complete body has been taken from the chassis resulting in the perfect body including superb body lines and door gaps.
Since the restoration the car has been seriously used but on a very careful way. It even drove a Mille Miglia but one cannot see any since of use.
This is an extremely nice looking example.
The wheels are sprayed in black which make the look of the car more race. We personally love this option but we can
CONDITION INTERIOR
The interior has been freshly appointed in wonderful brown leather. Period-correct Wilton wool was sourced for the carpet.
The cockpit is perfectly trimmed to factory-correct specifications.
All original meters, knobs and gauges are in the car and are all in perfectly working and nice looking condition.
DRIVING EXPERIENCE
This AC Ace is an absolutely superb example to drive.
Every AC is nice to drive but this car has been very well maintained and every aspect of its operation has been carefully sorted to provide the utmost driving pleasure.
The engine is very strong and superb tuned. The result is a very powerful AC Ace.
The transmission works properly, shifting is a little hard but this belongs to a racy car.
This car ticks all the boxes, it looks fabulous, drives fabulous and is eligible for the world’s nicest events including the Mille Miglia.
Disclaimer
The information provided on this website has been compiled by The Houtkamp Collection with the utmost care. The information contained within this advert is provided ‘as-is’, without warranties as to its accuracy whether expressed or implied and is intended for informational purposes only. The Houtkamp Collection is not liable for any errors or mistakes.
